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    Posted September 9, 2008 by
    CathyLong |
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    New York City, New York
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    Anonymous Protests Against Scientology's 9/11 Exploitation

    By CathyLong  |  Posted September 9, 2008  |  New York City, New York
     
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Matthew Danziger pokeanon@gmail.com Anonymous Protests Against Scientology's 9/11 Exploitation (New York, NY) September 13th, 2008 - On Saturday September 13th, the internet based group calling itself "Anonymous" will be holding its 8th worldwide peaceful protest against the Church of Scientology. Each Anonymous protest has a particular theme highlighting one aspect of the numerous abuses perpetrated by the Church of Scientology against its parishioners and critics. This month Anonymous NYC will be focusing on the Church of Scientology's exploitation of the rescue workers and victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks for Scientology's personal gain. Within days of the attacks, the Church moved into the disaster site with the intent of blocking the volunteer psychological and psychiatric grief counselors in order to funnel victims and rescue workers into their facilities for recruitment purposes. 1 2 Furthermore, the Church of Scientology boasts that after 9/11 its "Volunteer Ministers" were awarded the Fire Department of New York's highest honor, the "Medal of Valor" by Stephan Hittmann. The Fire Department Medal of Valor is issued only to families of firefighters who have died in the line-of-duty, and Hittmann, a Scientologist, held no authority to issue such an award. By fraudulently claiming this award, the Church of Scientology insults the memories of all of the brave firefighters who have fallen in the line of duty. 3 4 Anonymous not only educates, but uses satire and humor as well to raise attention to issues which have driven them to protest; therefore its demonstrations are usually extremely light-hearted and often over the top in nature. Picketers are always assured to have a good time. However, in light of the solemn theme and proximity to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the usual outright lunacy will be put on hold to focus on the unforgivable actions undertaken by the Church. At least one firefighter who was there on the scene at Ground Zero will be joining Anonymous for this event. The New York City protest will take place at 227 W. 46th Street (the Times Square location of the Scientology Center) from 11 AM to 2 PM. Similar protests will occur throughout the day worldwide in approximately 150 other cities. 1http://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.scientology/msg/189edcf1606f1229 2http://www.xenu.net/archive/events/20010911-tragedy/ 3http://www.scientology-newyork.org/community/opening/hittmann001.html 4http://www.ufoa.org/Prez/2005/GMM0405.htm#six

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